In the final vote on 15 March 2024, the National Council and the Council of States approved the bill with 191 to 0 votes and 0 abstentions or 44 to 0 votes and 0 abstentions.

If no referendum takes place, the Federal Council will decide on the commencement of the Act.

At the same time, preparations are already being made to adapt the Patents Ordinance. A consultation is to be conducted to ensure that all interested parties are informed and that they have the opportunity to comment.

The procedure for the resolution of differences also took place during the spring session and was conducted swiftly. The difference of opinion regarding the possible grounds for appeal and the difference of opinion regarding the suspensive effect of third-party appeals in the patent granting procedure were both entirely resolved. The compromise reached is as follows:

• The right of appeal for non-commercial associations is to be removed, as proposed by the Council of States. However, if it is claimed that a patent is contrary to public morality or policy – particularly in the biotech area for example – third parties will be able to appeal just as before and claim a violation of Articles 1a, 1b and 2 of the Patents Act. The Administrative Procedure Act will still apply for the other grounds of appeal, which means that these grounds can only be claimed by persons who are particularly affected by the patent.
• The compromise also includes the National Council’s proposal that, in general, third-party appeals in the patent granting procedure should not have suspensive effect.

The bill is therefore ready for the final vote on 15 March 2024.

In the spring session, the National Council considered the amendment to the Patents Act and unanimously approved it during the vote on the entire bill. However, it adopted two changes based on the proposals of its preliminary consultation committee:

• The grounds for appeal are to be aligned with the criteria for opposition proceedings in the European Patent Convention and thus expanded. It should be possible for anyone to have all criteria examined that were taken into account in the procedure for the grant of a patent, including criteria that were wrongly or insufficiently taken into account.
• All appeals by third parties should generally not have suspensive effect.

There are therefore two differences compared with the proposal of the Council of States.

At its meeting on 11 January 2024, the Science, Education and Culture Committee of the National Council (SECC-N) unanimously approved the amendment to the Patents Act.

It primarily discussed the right of appeal to be included in the procedure for the grant of a patent. This will allow appeals against IPI decisions to be filed directly with the Federal Patent Court.

Most committee members wish to extend the grounds of appeal. They consider that it should be possible for the Federal Patent Court to examine all criteria taken into account in the granting procedure, including criteria that were wrongly or insufficiently taken into account. In addition, all third-party appeals should not have suspensive effect.

The National Council is expected to deliberate on the bill in its spring session.

Media release by the SECC-N (in German, French or Italian)

The Council of States unanimously approved the revision of the Patents Act on 21 December 2023. It kept closely to the Federal Council’s draft but made the following amendments in line with the proposals made by its preliminary consultation committee:

• The appeal by a non-commercial association set out in the Federal Council’s draft is to be replaced by a popular complaint. This means that anyone should be able to submit a complaint to assert grounds for exclusion from patentability.
• Such appeals will not normally have suspensive effect and will therefore not block the patent owner. Only in exceptional cases will the lower court or appellate authority be able to order suspensive effect.

The Science, Education and Culture Committee of the National Council (SECC-N) will now examine the bill – probably as early as 11 January 2024.

On 20 October 2023, the Science, Education and Culture Committee of the Council of States (SECC-S) unanimously approved the revision of the Patents Act.

It welcomed the revision proposed by the Federal Council. However, the committee rejected the right of appeal for non-commercial associations stipulated in the draft. Instead, it proposed that anyone should be able to assert grounds for exclusion from patentability in accordance with Articles 1a, 1b and 2 of the Patents Act (PatA). If introduced, such appeals will not have suspensive effect and will therefore not block the patent owner. However, the appellate authority will be able to order suspensive effect in exceptional cases.

In addition, the committee was informed of the impact of the European unitary patent, which came into effect on 1 June 2023. The need for the revision has intensified in light of this.

The Council of States is expected to discuss the bill during its winter session.

Press release by the SECC-S (in German, French or Italian)

At its meeting on 30 January 2023, the Science, Education and Culture Committee started its deliberation on the revision of the Patents Act. It consulted experts from the technology transfer offices of ETH Zurich and EPFL Lausanne as well as representatives of the Swiss Union of Crafts and Small and Medium-sized Enterprises, economiesuisse and scienceindustries.

For its further deliberations, the committee requested more information on various topics, including the provisions applicable internationally and in the European Union. The IPI will now draw up corresponding reports.

The committee will continue its deliberation after the summer break.

Press release by the SECC-S (in German, French or Italian)